Gretchen Franklin
Acting
Born 1911-07-07
Died 2005-07-11
Covent Garden, London, England, UK
61 credits
Read biography
Born in Covent Garden, West London in 1911, Gretchen Franklin was an English actress and dancer whose showbusiness career spanned over 70 years. She was best known for her role as Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera EastEnders. She appeared in the very first episode in 1985 and was a regular in the series until 1988. After this she returned to the show intermittently until 2000 when her character was killed off, allowing Franklin to retire from acting at the age of 89. Born into a theatrical family (her father had a song and dance act, her grandfather was a famous music hall entertainer at the turn of the century and her cousin was Dad's Army star Clive Dunn) Gretchen Franklin made her theatre debut as a teenage chorus girl. She toured with comedians such as Gracie Fields before making the switch to serious acting. Her film appearances included Cloak Without Dagger (1956), Flame in the Streets (1961), The Murder Game (1965), Help! (1965), How I Won The War (1967), Twisted Nerve (1968), The Night Visitor (1971), The Three Musketeers (1973), Quincy's Quest (1979), and Ragtime (1981), among others. She is namechecked in The Fall's 1990 song Telephone Thing.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 61
Acting
54 credits
EastEnders
Gideon's Way
Blackadder
Keeping Up Appearances
The Sweeney
Sykes
The Protectors
Churchill's People
Story Parade
Dixon of Dock Green
Terry and June
Journey to the Unknown
Budgie
The Three Musketeers
Rising Damp
Danger UXB
Steptoe and Son
Londoners
George and Mildred
Hazell
I Didn't Know You Cared
The Scales of Justice
Black and Blue
The Protectors
Quatermass
Saturday Playhouse
The Four Musketeers
Six Days of Justice
Nicholas Nickleby
Help!
Ragtime
Twisted Nerve
Trottie True
How I Won the War
Subterfuge
Armchair Theatre
Bowler
The Night Visitor
The Organization
Flame in the Streets
The One and Only Phyllis Dixey
Secrets
The High Terrace
Return to Waterloo
The Silent Playground
The Secret Place
The Man Who Came to Die
Cloak Without Dagger
Quincy's Quest
The Poet
The Murder Game
Before I Wake
Ticket to Paradise
The Company Man
Other credits
6 credits
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